235: Five Strategies for Customer Experience Success in 2026

11 snips

Jan 8, 2026

In this insightful discussion, experts share five key strategies for enhancing customer experience by 2026. They tackle the idea of a customer service recession and emphasize the need for hiring based on service aptitude, not just experience. Microlearning emerges as a game-changer for training retention. The conversation highlights the diminishing effectiveness of traditional surveys and suggests measuring customer behaviors instead. Lastly, there's a focus on the critical link between employee experience and customer loyalty, with a reminder that AI should support, not replace, human interaction.

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INSIGHT

Customer Service Recession Is A Strategic Opportunity

The market is in a customer service recession where customers pay more and get less, creating an experience gap.
That gap makes service failures more costly and creates a competitive opportunity for companies that deliver consistently.

ADVICE

Audit Journeys To Fix Broken Promises

Map the full customer journey and identify service defects at each touchpoint.
Standardize signature experiential non-negotiables and fix broken promises first.

ADVICE

Hire For Heart, Train For Skill

Hire for core service aptitude traits (friendly, positive, genuinely liking others, enthusiastic) and train the rest.
Build interview filters that surface those four traits because training won't reliably create them.

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Summary

In this episode of the Customer Service Revolution podcast, Denise Thompson and John DiJulius discuss five essential customer experience strategies for 2026. They explore the concept of a customer service recession, the importance of hiring for service aptitude, the effectiveness of micro learning in training, the need to rethink customer feedback mechanisms, and the critical connection between employee experience and customer experience. They also touch on the role of AI in enhancing customer interactions while maintaining the human element. The conversation emphasizes actionable strategies for leaders to create loyalty and improve service without relying on discounts or gimmicks.

Takeaways:

Companies must build measurable, coachable, and consistent customer experience strategies.
The customer service recession presents an opportunity for competitive advantage.
Hiring for service aptitude is more important than ever due to declining soft skills.
Micro learning is an effective way to reinforce training and improve retention.
Surveys are becoming less effective; businesses should measure actual customer behavior instead.
Employee experience directly impacts customer experience; leaders must prioritize both.
Recognition and appreciation are crucial for employee retention.
Investing in learning and development increases employee loyalty.
AI can enhance efficiency but should not replace human interaction in customer service.
Leaders should focus on fixing broken promises in their service delivery.

Chapters:

00:00Navigating the Customer Service Recession 07:00Hiring for Service Aptitude 16:18Micro Learning: The Future of Training 23:01Rethinking Customer Feedback 30:58The Employee Experience Connection 41:07AI's Role in Customer Experience

Links:

Interview Questions: https://thedijuliusgroup.com/interview-questions-2/

Micro-learning example 1 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/c4NU69YcPz8?feature=share Micro-learning example 2 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/NgpJXbGonpc?feature=share

Schedule a Complimentary Call with one of our advisors: tdg.click/claudia

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Customer Experience Executive Academy: https://thedijuliusgroup.com/project/cx-executive-academy/

The DiJulius Group Methdology: https://thedijuliusgroup.com/x-commandment-methodology/

Experience Revolution Membership: https://thedijuliusgroup.com/membership/

Books: https://thedijuliusgroup.com/shop/

Contacts: Lindsey@thedijuliusgroup.com , Claudia@thedijuliusgroup.com

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